Congress MLA victim of panchayat poll violence

Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has said Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, widely seen as the BJP’s PM candidate, would not be able to make much difference to the saffron party’s fortunes in Uttar Pradesh.

Making light of the speculation that Modi, recently named the chief of the BJP’s poll panel, might contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Varanasi, Yadav said, “He is free to contest from anywhere in the state though he is unwelcome, as the people of Uttar Pradesh are peace-loving and would not like to be divided along communal lines.” Uttar Pradesh sends the highest number of members, 80, to the Lok Sabha.

“It’s hard to understand UP politics while staying in Gujarat… I don’t think Modi is going to make any difference in the UP’s political scenario,” said the SP chief, while addressing a press conference at Johar University in Rampur. Yadav, who himself nurses prime ministerial ambitions, has been critical of Modi, calling him a “media creation” and a divisive figure.

BJP’s state unit spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said, “from this it is clear that Modi’s magic is working.”